The_Chamberlain_Case

The Chamberlains did not receive a fair trial as there were rumours and accusations, the media had a major impact on how the people thought, the jury was fair minded and not all evidence were presented at court. The media has a major impact on the population and may cause biasness to grow. This will affect the jury’s decisions and it caused the trial to be unfair. There were many rumours circulating the Chamberlain Case. Some of them were that Azaria meant ‘sacrifice to the wilderness’, Azaria always dressed in black and that a verse from the bible about a ritual slaying was underlined with red ink. All these were just rumours and some were proven false. The name Azaria, actually meant ‘blessed by god ‘and was always dressed in black because it was Lindy’s favourite colour and red ink from the picture on the opposite page had run onto the text. However, after proving these rumours, more were being released. This would have caused the Chamberlains to stress and it will affect the trial. It would have also been presented in the media. This caused the trial to be unfair. The jury from the court was fair minded. This is because they may have misunderstood witnesses and may have chosen to hear witnesses more closely who communicated in simple language or appear to treat them in a particular way. This caused the trial to be unfair. For example, Joy Kuhl was easier to understand than Professor Boettcher. Not all evidence of this case was presented in court. Some were silenced, for example, an Aboriginals account was not presented in court. His evidence was that he saw a pet dingo rush into a tent and ripped the throat of a 9-month old baby and carried it off. This may not have been presented because of racial discrimination. Another piece of evidence that was ignored was Lindy’s mother’s evidence of seeing 2 paw prints on Azaria’s blanket. This proves that the trial was unfair. Many witnesses were supporting the fact that the Chamberlain’s were innocent. Witnesses like Greg Lowe stated that there wasn’t enough time for Lindy to commit a murder and then hide it. Lenehan, a hitchhiker, confirmed that he was bleeding freely in the Chamberlain’s car as they drove. This may have been the blood stains in the car. A forensic biologist named Joy Kuhl, investigated the blood. She claimed that it was foetal blood; however, she did not say that it was just a sample showing what would be found. No motives were found in this case. This was because Lindy Chamberlain, as witnesses have stated, was an extremely loving and caring mother. The Morling commission stated that Mrs Chamberlain couldn’t have committed the murder, however, her evidence revealed many inconsistencies and improbabilities. The Chamberlains received a total of $1.3million compensation from the NT government, however they asked for another $4million for personal hardships. Their total compensation was roughly around $5.3million.